Nearly 800 acres of former state trust land in Jefferson County was added to the Dabob Bay Natural Area on Tuesday after the Board of Natural Resources approved a pair of transactions during its meeting at the Natural Resources Building in Olympia.

 

The transactions – an Inter-Trust Exchange and a Trust Land Transfer – were funded by the Legislature and will ensure that the Washington State Department of Natural Resources can continue to generate revenue to support local services in Jefferson County while also conserving rare habitat.

 

“Dabob Bay is a unique and special landscape, and I am incredibly happy to protect and preserve public land there to ensure that future generations get to enjoy its beauty and ecological importance,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz. “These transactions are a testament to the years of hard work from stakeholders and staff to find a solution that protects these rare ecosystems while still supporting local services in east Jefferson County.”

 

“Protection of these forest stands around Dabob Bay, which contain a rare plant community and likely wouldn’t have been harvested, allows not only conservation of the forests but also further protects Dabob Bay and its water quality for future generations,” said Jefferson County Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour. “These transactions will improve the ability for state-managed lands to produce revenue for beneficiaries like schools and fire districts in Jefferson County. This is a win-win if I’ve ever seen one and required the work of many DNR staff, Olympic Peninsula citizens and leaders as well as local conservationists and shellfish growers. I want to thank everyone for leaning in to this process.”

 

The first step of the two-part process, the Inter-Trust Exchange, swapped 780 acres of State Forest Transfer Trust land that supports local services in Jefferson County with 1,660 forested acres nearby that support the Common School Trust, which helps fund K-12 school construction statewide. The equal-value transaction ensures that the local services that depend on revenue from DNR timber sales will be kept whole financially while allowing the seven parcels to be moved via the Trust Land Transfer mechanism.

 

The second step of the process is the Trust Land Transfer, which took the 780 acres and moved them into the Dabob Bay Natural Area for permanent conservation. The $10.1 million received from the Legislature and the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office will be split into two buckets. The $6.6 million in timber value on the parcels will be distributed to the Common School Trust, and the $3.5 million in land value will go toward purchasing replacement trust property across Washington state.

 

Many of the conserved acres will protect a globally rare, higher-quality plant community on them that includes western hemlock, Pacific rhododendron, and evergreen huckleberry.

 

As part of the transactions process, DNR held a pair of public meetings in Quilcene to solicit public comment for the proposals, a process that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Tuesday’s Trust Land Transfer is complementary to Commissioner Franz’s announcement to conserve 2,000 acres of high-ecological-value forests and lands at threat of conversion across the state, including 671 acres adjacent to the Dabob Bay Natural Area. 

 

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Kenny Ocker

Communications Manager

Cell: 360-810-1217